Ditching-spade



(No Model.)

- J. 13-. J. H. & S... E. KETCHAM.

DITGHING SPADE.

No. 396,659. Patented Jan. 22, 1889.

iFIIIINIIIIIIlIIIHIIII l nu.

a? he/ ZbrJ E. wxm JZYJ'MJ: am

N. PETERS, Phutn-Lilhugmpllen Washinglan. D. (l

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. KETCHAM, JAMES H. KETOHAM, AND SQUIRE E. 'KETCHAM, OF

' ANAMOSA, IOlVA.

DITCHING-SPADE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 396,659, dated January22, 1889.

Application filed July 25, 1888- Serial No. 280,967. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J OHN E. KETCHAM, J AMES H. KETOHAM, and SQUIRE E.KETCHAM, of Anamosa, in the county of Jones and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Ditching Spades; and we dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

Our in vention relates to ditching-spades in that class in which theblade of the spade is formed of bars and in skeleton shape, with acutting-edge joined to or forming a part of the bars.

Heretofore we have described in. an application filed by us in theUnited States Patent Oflice of the 22d day of September, 1886, No.214,292, a ditching-spade in which the crossbar, directly joined to thetang, was made curved, in order to throw the middle bar into a lowerplane, for the purpose of bracing the side bars and increasing thestrain of the skeleton blade. In the manufacture and use of this spadewe have found it more economical and to produce a better effect to makethis cross-bar straight and to produce the bracing effect of the middlebar bya sharp curve near its point of junction with the cross-bar; further, that thej unction of the side bars, cutting edge, and middle barscould be made at a single welding and at a point where absolutely nostrain could be thrown in the use of the instrument. These two pointsconstitute our invention and are the subject of the present tened andcurved toward the center, as shown at (Z (Z, and are united at thecentral point, e, to form the cutting-edge. The middle bar, 1'', is a somade preferably straight,though of course both it and the straight barsmay be slightly curved, but without any special disadyantage. The middlebar has a short upward bend at g, so that it is below the plane of thebar 0, and is inclined in relation thereto, as shown more clearly in.Fig. 2. In the manufacture the front end of the middle bar is split, asshown more clearly in Fig. 3, and embraces the lap of the curved ends ofthe side bars, so that the three parts are united by a single weld, andat the central and forward point, where there can be no strain receivedfrom leverage on the spade. The bend in the central bar at g obviatesthe necessity for any bend in the tang, which is in the same plane asthe cross-bar, and to which the central bar is connected.

"We have described the cross bar (1 as straight, using the term todistinguish it from the bar having the ends upwardly curved. We meanthat it is straight on this upper face. It may of course withoutmaterial change be slightly curved toward or from the forward end of thespade.

e claim as our invention A skeleton spade consisting of side bars, 0 0,formed of a single bar bent centrally to provide the crossbar Z), withits ends approximately parallel to form the sides 0 c, said sides beingflattened and curved at their lower ends and united to form thecutting-edge, and the central bar, f, extending and inclining from saidcutting-edge rearwardly, provided with a bend, g, at its top,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN E. KETOHAM. JAMES H. KETCHAM. SQUIRE E. KETCHAM. \Vitnesses:

ALEX. G. WILLIAMs, W. H. Posr.

